Ukraine war briefing: ‘Not good for both sides’ says Zelenskyy of stunning Trump exchange

After an extraordinary exchange with US president Donald Trump at the White House, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an appearance on Fox News in which he said the public row was “not good for both sides.” But Zelenskyy said Trump – who insists Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war – needs to understand that Ukraine can’t change its attitudes toward Russia on a dime. Zelenskyy added that Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive. “It’s so sensitive for our people,” Zelenskyy said. “And they just want to hear that America (is) on our side, that America will stay with us. Not with Russia, with us. That’s it.”

After the tense exchange and shortly before departing for his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida for the weekend, Trump told reporters that he wanted an “immediate ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, but expressed doubt that Zelenskyy was ready to make peace. Trump also posted on his social media site that he had “determined” that Zelenskyy “is not ready for Peace.” “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” Trump wrote. US military support for Ukraine now appears to be hanging in the balance, while talks over a minerals deal have collapsed.

On CNN US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Zelenskyy to “apologize for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did.”

European leaders have rushed to defend Zelenskyy, after the clash with US president Donald Trump played out in front of the global media. German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that “No one wants peace more than the citizens of Ukraine! That is why we are jointly seeking the path to a lasting and just peace. Ukraine can rely on Germany – and on Europe.” French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is the aggressed people,” while Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, declared that “the free world needs a new leader”.

Ukrainians have also rallied around Zelenskyy as a defender of his country’s interests. The meeting is likely to have delighted officials in Moscow, the Associated Press reports, but many Ukrainians seemed unfazed, instead expressing a sense that the Ukrainian leader had stood up for their country’s dignity and interests. Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their president’s performance in Washington, “because Zelenskyy fought like a lion.”

UK prime minister Keir Starmer has invited more than a dozen European and EU leaders to a Sunday summit to “drive forward” action on Ukraine and security, his office said. Ahead of the main summit, Starmer will chair a morning call with Baltic nations, before welcoming Zelenskyy to Downing Street to discuss the war with Russia, it said on Friday. Leaders from around continental Europe including France, Germany, Denmark and Italy as well as Turkey, Nato and the European Union have been invited to the summit.

Two Russian drone strikes hit a medical facility and other targets in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, injuring at least five people late on Friday, local officials said, according to Reuters. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said Russian drones had hit civilian areas in three central districts of the city, a frequent target of Russian attacks. Syniehubov said five people were hurt, while Mayor Ihor Terekhov put the injury toll at seven. In the Black Sea port of Odesa, another frequent Russian target in southern Ukraine, a drone attack triggered fires in a private home and a business, killing one person and injuring another.

Moscow is using infantry to storm the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, which is partially controlled by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said on Friday. Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into the Kursk region in August last year hoping the territory it captured could eventually be swapped for Ukrainian territory under Russian control. The Kremlin has deployed a significant force including North Korean forces to try to dislodge Ukrainian troops holding on to stretches of the territory, including the town of Sudzha.